Kids Birthday Parties

Today is my daughter's 8th birthday. Happy Birthday!

Kids birthday's can be a funny thing. Every year I say I'm not going to spend a lot of money on her birthday, but every year I spend more then I originally intended.

For a couple of her birthday's we took her to a Disney Ice Show, instead of a party, but between the the cost of the tickets , souvenirs, snacks and drinks, and still buying her other presents it ended up costing a lot.

One year we took about 8 kids to the arcade, which was pretty expensive. Last year I had the great idea to basically bribe her into not having a kids party, by giving her $100.00 to buy what ever she wanted. And she still got other presents. That probably didn't save me anything except the headache of a kids party. Which might have been worth it after all.

This year she wanted two friends to the movies and a sleepover. Which was also expensive because it was at a place in the city I live call Chunky's. It's kind of cool, they serve you burgers or whatever right while your watching the movie. But it is also pretty expensive. Plus of course she still got a bunch of presents from Mom & Dad.

So I don't really know what the answer is to saving money on kids birthdays. Except, every year I vow I'm not going to spend as much as I end up doing. And every year I'm just glad when it's over. Happy Birthday!

Grocery Shopping

Grant - Eco-friendly Reusable Grocery Bag by JP Monkey - _MG_9712.catalog, originally uploaded by sean dreilinger.

One way to save money is to only go grocery shopping once a week. This is something I just recently incorporated myself.

I remember seeing on Oprah not to long ago, a show where they put some families on a budget. One of the things they did was to bring them to the grocery store and have them buy enough groceries for at least a week. The point was the less you go, the less you will spend.

Seems obvious right? But until recently I was to lazy to think to far ahead when I went to the store. I was going up to 3 times a week. But now I plan out a week of groceries and I am saving money! I figure I'm saving between 50 to 60 dollars a week now.

One of the reasons is I'm not buying as much snacks and junk food. Instead of running out every other day, because my daughter ran out of cookies, she can have whatever else is left in the cabinets. For example my kids like oatmeal, when there's no cookies or other junk left, they'll eat oatmeal for a snack. Which is also better for them anyway!

Washing Your Shower Curtain Liner

A great tip I read recently in Martha Stewart Living Magazine was to wash your shower curtain liner in the washing machine.



You know how your shower curtain liner gets all grungy and mildew on it after awhile? Well don't throw them away! Put the liner in washing machine, add some detergent, a little bleach and wash in hot water. Don't put in dryer. Just hang back up, and it's as good as new.



It should be able to withstand a few washings. I tried it and it really works! I know shower curtain liners don't cost that much to begin with but why not get a few more uses out of it?